Hand-Painted Decorative Egg with Asian Motif

This item is an egg-shaped decorative object, approximately 2 to 2.5 inches in length, featuring hand-painted Chinese or Japanese-style imagery. The surface material exhibits a creamy, off-white coloration with subtle graining and vertical stress cracks or 'checking' consistent with organic materials such as bone or heavily aged ivory, though a definitive identification between ivory and high-quality resin would require a physical Schreger line test. The central motif depicts a female figure in traditional Asian attire, including a blue kimono or robe, set against a background of cherry blossoms or plum blossoms in soft pink hues. The brushwork appears deliberate and fine, suggesting hand-application rather than a transfer print. Notable condition issues include a network of fine surface cracks running vertically, which may indicate drying out of the material or thermal stress over time. The item lacks visible maker's marks or signatures in the provided view, but the style is characteristic of mid-20th-century souvenir or decorative arts often produced for the export market. The craftsmanship displays moderate to high skill in the figurative painting, despite the obvious aging and structural fragility evidenced by the surface cracking.